The Osceola times., 1887-05-14
THE SAHARA DESERT
Stories cf Cruel Captivity aud n...
the African Cn.., su !,

Stories cf Cruel Captivity and n
the African Coast,
Our voyage will soon be ovs,
for we are just passing the outsrs
skirt Of that mighty Saaam a" &
which ! entered from the o,he,
eight years ago in company Win
group of adventurous French os;'
This viii probably he our last clim'
of Africa for the present.. and anaa
day ought to bring rs in sight Of Cr-', |
Canary, where we shall go ashor y
a holiday upon one Of the most he,as
fhl islands in the Atlantic, In which =
may enjoy all the richness and s,'
dor of the tropics without Their A
stroying heat and deadly malari,
The coast which We are now sl;r,,.
is the same where the Spaniard. nss
posed TO annex sixty miles of seaba..,
few years ago. In this wise uads'
taking they have certainly little ouO.,
sition to fear. for no man in his SEM.
would be likely to dispute with tho.
the possession Of these barren rool,
and lifcless sands, which extend th,,.
dreary length along the eastern hor
zon as far as the eye can reach. Wb,,
the interior Of this dismal region is IN.
may be gathered from the simps
straightforward narrative of a man A
whom America may be justly proud
that stout hearted New England Can
tain who was one Of the few men ,h,,
survived the fearful ordeal of slsyev
among ,ayages as greedy and fero,.
ious as the yultures who share with
them the solitudes of this accursed
desert. Wrecked a little TO the mort,
of the perilous cape, he was instantly
pounced upon by the fierce Arabs tha,
haunt it, plundered, stripped and
dragged away into the depths Of the
wilderness with the remnant of his in.
fated crew. This is how he describe,
his journey: 1.-The flints upon which
we trod we're sharp as knives, LAYING
open our bare feet at every step, 50
that the blood dripped from our heel,
as we struggled on. Meanwhile the
Arabs kept goading Us forward by deal.
ing us heavy blows with the shafts ol
their spears or pricking US with thel
points. The burning sand that enteret
our wounds caused us intolerab,
agony, and the sun was now bcatin,
down upon us so iiercely that our ex
posed skins peeled of in long strips a
If scalded with boiling water.
length, driven to desperation. bega
to look about for large stone. intend
ing to dash out my brains with it, an
so to end my suferings. But not fin'
ing one | determined TO bear up an
not lose hope while life remained
me-"
This same coast has witnessed n
other tragedy of European rcnOwn, 4
/ mere mention of which, after the lap
of nearly half century. suiiices
/ thrill with horror all who have ey
heard of il. At the end of one of {
rooms in the great picture gallery
the Louvre. in dim and itful liz
that makes its ghastly details doub
terrific, hangs AN enormous pictu
representing a wave-tossed raft strev
with the haggard, wasted forms Of
shipwrccked crew. Some fastenii
blood-stained bandages around tho
shrunken limbs. Others are lyiI
PROSTATE. with their livid features al
rayless eyeballs turned blindly upwa
TO the mercilcss splendor of the brigl
cloudless, cruel sky. Others still y
straining despairingly over saille
ocean the sunkcn eyes whose fix
stare of dumb and stony horror haunt
me for many day after first saw
There is no need for any one 10 a
what that picture means. One CLAN
suilices to tell the most careless o
server that it can represent nothil
else than the historical raft upon whi
the doomed survivors Of the Medu
fingered out the last days Of that lol
agony whose sickcning details are +
well known to need repetition.-Ddr
Ker, in ~ \. Times.